Teenagers may be vaccinated against pertussis after a rise of more than 1000 cases this summer in England and Wales. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is considering the move after provisional figures from the Health Protection Agency showed that 1047 cases of the disease were reported in July, bringing the total number of cases so far this year to 3523. The July figure is nearly as high as the number of reported cases in the whole of last year, 1118.

In a nutshell: The gloomy message reported by Michael Osterholm and colleagues urges for improved monitoring of the efficacy of seasonal influenza vaccines. Their finding that influenza vaccines provide only moderate protection, which is greatly reduced or absent in some seasons, against virologically confirmed influenza, seems odd but could be predicted from rather old results that classify immunity against influenza as the so-called original antigenic sin. Only epitopes expressed on the next encountered viral strain that are shared with the first strain will evoke an immune response.

In a nutshell: Measles infections are continuing to rise and parents must ensure children have had both MMR jabs before returning to school, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has said.Length of publication: 1 page news item